Nice Guys Don't Win (A College Sport's Romance) Read online

  Nice Guys Don’t Win

  Micalea Smeltzer

  Contents

  Blurb

  1. Cole

  2. Zoey

  3. Cole

  4. Zoey

  5. Cole

  6. Zoey

  7. Cole

  8. Zoey

  9. Cole

  10. Zoey

  11. Cole

  12. Zoey

  13. Cole

  14. Zoey

  15. Cole

  16. Zoey

  17. Cole

  18. Zoey

  19. Cole

  20. Zoey

  21. Cole

  22. Zoey

  23. Cole

  24. Zoey

  25. Cole

  26. Zoey

  27. Cole

  28. Zoey

  29. Cole

  30. Zoey

  Epilogue

  Also by Micalea Smeltzer

  About the Author

  Blurb

  Nice Guys Don’t Win

  When I agreed to be his roommate, I had no way of knowing that Cole Anderson was one of my father’s star players.

  Having transferred to Aldridge University for my junior year, I wasn’t familiar with anyone on campus.

  If there’s one rule I’ve always been supposed to follow it’s don’t date a basketball player.

  Cole is different, though, and I don’t want to stay away.

  But when he finds out I’m the coach’s daughter I might not have any say in the matter.

  © Copyright 2021 Micalea Smeltzer

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover Design © Emily Wittig Designs

  Cover Photo © Regina Wamba

  Editing: KBM Editing

  Formatting: Micalea Smeltzer

  1

  Cole

  I think I’m going to commit murder.

  “What do you mean you can’t live with me? I already signed the lease. I can’t back out now. Fuck, man, I can only afford this place with you paying half the rent.”

  Teddy, one of my good friends, scratches the back of his head giving me a sheepish smile. “Yeah, well, you see. My parents were going to be paying for it, not me, and I kinda fucked up and they’re cutting me off. Apparently, they think I’ll be less of a headache and pain in their ass if I have to live on campus. Something about not partying and fucking everything that moves. Like are they kidding, that’s worse on campus, but when I tried to tell them that they thought I was just bullshitting them.”

  I stand frozen, taking in his long-winded explanation. I don’t care about his excuses, all that matters is I’m moving into my new place today and I can’t afford it without him.

  What the fuck am I going to do?

  “Teddy.” His name comes out as a growl, and he must realize I’m this close to sucker punching him because he shuts up. For a second at least, then he’s back to running his mouth. It’s the only thing he’s good at besides baseball.

  “Look, man, I’m sorry. Believe me. I don’t like dropping this on you now.”

  And by now, he means when I’m unloading my shit from the back of my old pickup truck. The run-down black Chevy has seen better days—like back in the 80s. Teddy’s Porsche 911 Turbo in a cobalt blue looks extremely out of place beside it.

  “Please tell me you have a goddamn plan in place and a replacement for your sorry ass.”

  “Um…” He rubs the side of his head. “No.”

  “You have to be fucking kidding me.”

  “Shit, man. I said I was sorry. Look I’ll help you find a replacement. I doubt they’ll be half as charming, and definitely nowhere near as good looking but I’ll do what I can.” He messes with his shaggy brown hair, clearly nervous and probably still expecting me to punch him.

  I should but hitting him would only make me feel better temporarily and that’s not my style anyway.

  “I don’t need your help. You’ve already helped enough.”

  And by helped, I mean he’s tossed me over a cliff and to the jagged rocks beneath.

  I know, I fucking know I could go to my friend Mascen and he’d make sure my costs are covered, but he’s the sole reason I want out on my own so I’m not about to ask him for a fucking favor. Especially one I doubt I’ll ever be able to pay back.

  Hefting a box from the back of my pickup, I carry it into the apartment. Teddy, my new Golden Retriever apparently, follows dutifully behind me still muttering about how sorry he is. He doesn’t even make himself useful and carry a box. Typical.

  “You don’t understand, I’m walking a fine line with my parents. One more screw up and I’m done, they’re cutting me off for good—like no inheritance forever. If they’re demanding I stay in the dorms, that’s what I’m doing.”

  I whip around on the stairs, nearly knocking him down them with the box. My bad—not really. He steadies himself with a hand on the railing.

  “You’ve had to know about this for a while or you wouldn’t have a fucking dorm to go back to.”

  “Well, actually, I was just going to keep it, that way Jude would basically have a single and it’d be a great on campus party space.” Jude, a junior and a year behind us, is the star wide receiver on the football team. “I swear I wasn’t trying to screw you over or anything. I was looking forward to it. Now that Mascen is pussy whipped it was going to be you and me. The two single bros living the best of their senior year. Throwing parties, getting shit-faced, and getting all the pussy we can. Aldridge is like an all you can eat buffet of the finest girls around.” He throws his arms out and I nearly hurtle my box at him.

  “First off, don’t talk about Rory that way. Secondly, if you thought for one minute, I was going to let you turn our apartment into some sort of sex club den thing you’re fucking wrong.” I start up the stairs again so I can put this box down.

  Teddy, like our friend Mascen and most of the lucky people at Aldridge unlike myself, are rich. The kind of rich where they could buy their own island if they wanted. Some is new money, like Mascen’s family—his dad is a drummer in a world-famous band—some of it is seriously old money like Teddy’s family. I still don’t know exactly what it is his family does, but I do know he casually mentioned one time that his cousin is married to a prince of Greece. Still haven’t wrapped my head around that one.

  Unlike them, if it wasn’t for my talent at basketball, there’s no way I would’ve ever been able to attend Aldridge University. But for some reason they saw something in a poor mixed kid from the middle of nowhere Michigan.

  Reaching the apartment, I set the box down and unlock the door. Teddy pushes his way in before me. He has no idea that he’s tap-dancing across my last nerve.

  The smell of fresh paint litters the air, stinging my nostrils when I step inside. Despite the chemical smell, I won’t complain. The apartment building is new, built to accommodate the growing amount of people in the area thanks to the university.

  Setting the box on the kitchen counter, I turn to Teddy. “Since you’re here already and irritating the shit out of me with your babbling, make yourself useful and unload my truck.”

  He laughs like I’m being funny. “Oh,” he sobers when I don’t laugh along, “you’re serious.”

  “Yeah.”

  He holds o
ut his hands. “You see these hands? Do they look like they do manual labor? No. They’re good for baseball, weightlifting, and fingering pussy.”

  “What pussy? The only action your hand gets is from jerking yourself off.”

  He slaps a hand to his chest, gasping like a dramatic mother in a period drama when her daughters do some shit she’s not pleased with. Yeah, my sisters have made me watch all that shit.

  “You don’t have to cut me like that, Cole. I know you’re mad at me, but you know damn well I have no problem getting girls.”

  “There’s shit in my truck waiting for those delicate hands of yours.”

  “All right, all right.” He throws his hands up. “I’m going. But don’t think I’ve forgotten about my promise. I’ll find you a new roommate. A great one. The best ever. Better than even me, which is unimaginable, but I’ll make it happen.”

  “You do that,” I call after him as he walks out.

  I shake my head. It’s laughable to think that Teddy will actually manage to secure me a roommate. Nah, like always I’ll be on my own to dig myself out of a hole.

  2

  Zoey

  “What do you mean you don’t have me down for a dorm assignment?” I slam my hands on the counter, glaring at the secretary behind it. She’s older, graying hair down to her shoulders and a pair of lime green reading glasses perched on the end of her nose. I’m not in the habit of snapping at older ladies, my mom raised me to always speak respectably, but in this moment, I can’t keep my temper at bay.

  Transferring to Aldridge University for junior and senior year wasn’t part of my plan. But when I caught my fiancé cheating on me with my best friend of all people, I knew I had to get the hell out of dodge, and lucky for me my dad is a coach at Aldridge. He pulled some strings and now here I am. It’s a tad awkward since I haven’t been that close with my dad since he and my mom divorced when I was thirteen, but desperate times call for desperate measures. His eagerness to help me get in did leave me feeling a tad bit guilty for not making more of an effort to be involved in his life, along with those of my half-siblings as well with his new wife.

  “It shows you were late enrollment, and all the dorms were full.” Her tone is calm but pointed. “There’s nothing we can do.”

  Panic surges inside me. “B-But no one told me. There was nothing in all of this,” I wave my massive stack of papers from the university, “telling me that I didn’t have a place to sleep. This has to be a joke.”

  Behind me, the door to the front office opens and a guy’s voice barges in. “Hey, Mrs. Jostin I lost my student ID again, can you help a guy out? I promise it’ll never happen again.”

  In front of me, the woman sighs heavily, her shoulders sagging. “Teddy McCallister, you lose your student ID every three months. Classes haven’t even started yet. How is it possible you lost it already?”

  The guy speaks from behind me. “Ah, Mrs. Jostin don’t be that way. I know I’m your favorite guy. I can’t help it that I lose everything. It’s a character flaw that most find endearing.”

  “Endearing my ass,” she mutters under her breath, startled eyes darting up to mine to see if I heard. When she sees me trying not to laugh, she cracks a smile. “Teddy, let me finish up with this young lady and I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Right on.”

  Sighing, she adjusts her glasses and shuffles the papers in front of her. “I’m truly sorry, dear, but the dorms are full and there’s nothing I can do. There is plenty of off campus housing you can try. Rent is usually fairly reasonable.”

  Tears sting my eyes, but I refuse to cry. I gave myself three days to cry over Todd and our broken engagement and then swore I wouldn’t cry again. Ever. I have a little bit of savings from odd jobs over the years, so I know I should be able to swing rent, but I wasn’t planning on that. I guess I should be thankful my mom always insisted I be smart with money and save a reasonable amount of every paycheck.

  “All right,” I sigh in defeat. “Thank you.”

  I can always suck it up and stay with my dad and his family, but I really don’t want to do that.

  I turn around and come face to face with the guy. He’s fairly tall, with floppy brown hair, light stubble on an angular face, and bright forest green eyes. He gives me a lopsided grin, not hiding the fact he’s checking me out at all. I start to skirt around him, but he reaches for my arm. I give him a death glare and he immediately releases me.

  “Hey.” He holds his hands up in surrender. “Sorry, I just wanted to say I might be able to help you out with the whole housing situation.”

  I narrow my eyes on him. “I swear to God if you offer me your bed, I’ll cut your dick off.”

  Mrs. Jostin laughs, quickly turning it into a cough.

  “No, but that’s a good idea too.” I give him a menacing glare and he waves his hands for me to calm down. “I have a friend, yeah, he’s a guy but he’s kind of in a bind and needs a roommate. He’s cool. You’d like him. I think. You seem like you might not like anyone.” He rubs the back of his head awkwardly. “But I mean, it would be mutually beneficial. He needs a roommate to help with rent and you need a place to stay.”

  “This isn’t some gross bachelor pad is it?”

  “Uh … no. It’s a new apartment. It’s clean. He doesn’t smoke or drink much. He’s not much of a partier which kind of cramps my style but sounds like it would be good for you since you seem like the type to like the quiet.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” My glower deepens on the shaggy haired Louis Tomlinson lookalike except more jacked. It’s obvious he spends a lot of time in the gym and thinks his looks alone let him get away with anything. Typical. Todd was the same way. I should’ve known then to run far and fast.

  “Nothing, I swear. Just that … look … I kind of had to back out of rooming with him last minute and now he’s stuck needing someone else to cover half the rent. He’s a good guy, I swear. At least come meet him and check out the place. I can take you as soon as I finish with the lovely Mrs. Jostin.”

  I narrow my eyes on him. “Fine, but I’ll follow you in my car.”

  “Whatever you want. I’ll meet you outside.”

  I wait on the front steps of the main building on campus, toeing the end of my worn white Converse against the ground. I should probably stop, that’s why they’re so grubby to begin with, but it’s a nervous habit. I’m really good at appearing confident and in charge in certain situations, while on the inside I’m a freaking mess.

  Five minutes later the large wooden doors creak open behind me and Teddy comes out, envelope in hand.

  “Got your ID?”

  “Mrs. Jostin always comes through for me. Don’t worry, I’ll send her some flowers to thank her for dealing with my shit.”

  I arch a brow as I follow the long-legged guy to the parking lot. “You actually send her flowers?”

  He stops dead in his tracks, causing a car to honk and speed around us. “Do you think so little of me? I’m a good guy. I even send my one-night-stands home with freshly baked cookies. I’m basically Betty Cocker.”

  Don’t laugh, Zoey. It’ll only encourage him.

  “Pretty sure it’s Crocker.”

  “No, babe, I assure you I am all Cock … er.”

  “Don’t call me babe.”

  “Sorry, I can’t help myself sometimes.” He grins, green eyes shining with mischief. “I’m over here.” He points to a shiny Porsche sports car. “Where are you?”

  I sigh and unlock my Honda CRV across from his. “That’s me.”

  “Sweet. Follow me for a good time.”

  I stare at him the way a mom looks at her unruly child—you know, the look that says shut your trap with your idiotic remarks. My glare doesn’t seem to bother him a bit. He laughs and goes to his car.

  When he looks back and sees I haven’t made a move to my car, he says, “You’ll get used to it.”

  If this guy thinks I’ll be getting used to anything when it comes to him,
he’s sorely mistaken. I doubt I’ll want to live wherever he’s taking me and who’s to say the guy living there will even agree.

  More than likely I’m going to be stuck living with my dad and his new family. It’s the last thing I want, but you know what they say about desperate times.

  Slipping into my car, I follow the blue Porsche off campus and about five minutes down the road where he pulls into an apartment complex. We pass by a building that lists things like gym and pool and circle around to one of the apartment buildings in the back.

  Parking beside Teddy, I get out and look around in surprise. It looks nice. He did say it was new but I kind of thought he was fucking with me just to get me here and hopefully agree to stay.

  “It’s on the third floor.”

  I grumble a little at that, not liking the idea of carrying groceries up them every week. But you know, that’s a small sacrifice to make if it means I get my own place. Well, sort of my own place. I’d still have a roommate, which is true if I’d been given a dorm on campus like I was supposed to.

  “Did you let him know we were coming?”

  “Uh,” he looks at me over his shoulder as we climb the stairs, “no.”

  I roll my eyes, holding onto the railing. We reach the third floor and turn to our right where he knocks on a door marked 308.

  Waiting with crossed arms, it isn’t but maybe thirty seconds later when the door opens.